Alex Samuels

Alex Samuels
is a political reporter for The Texas Tribune where she helps with our national campaign coverage, writes stories about the intersection of race and politics in Texas and covers the hottest political news bubbling out of local communities. She is also one of the primary authors of The Blast, the Tribune’s subscription-only daily newsletter for political insiders. Alex was previously the Tribune’s community reporter, but began her stint with the organization as a fellow in 2016. She graduated in 2017 from the University of Texas at Austin’s School of Journalism. She originally is from Massachusetts and is the best ping pong player at the Tribune.

Castro hasn’t always been a liberal darling on border issues: In 2013, he gave a full-throated endorsement of the border and immigration policies advocated by Obama and touted the completion of enforcement measures that included fencing along the U.S-Mexico border.

The lineup and setting of Thursday’s debate couldn’t be more symbolic of the case Democrats will make as they argue for how they can flip Texas — which President Donald Trump won by 9 percentage points in 2016 — next year.

A proposal to decriminalize unauthorized border crossings has become a hallmark of Julián Castro’s presidential campaign, and many of the other Democratic candidates have jumped on board. But it hasn’t helped his campaign gain much steam.

Abbott said he plans to release more details next week regarding a series of roundtables he’ll host with other lawmakers and state leaders to discuss possible legislative solutions that could prevent another massacre.